


lemon flowers

by yawwwrp



Category: K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Bipolar Disorder, Comfort/Angst, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Mentions of Attempted Suicide, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Summer, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, don't worry there's lots of fluff and happy things too!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawwwrp/pseuds/yawwwrp
Summary: Life is a constant dull stream of numbness for Changbin and a dangerous roller coaster for Minho.They both struggle and and they are both broken in different ways.And somehow, they are exactly what the other needs.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Lee Minho | Lee Know/Seo Changbin
Comments: 56
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys!
> 
> this one is a bit heavier than my usual stories, but fear not, it is still a happy one - as with many things in life, there's also sad stuff along with the happy things, you need both.  
> this will be updated a bit slower than other stories i think, so there might only be a new chapter every 2 - 3 days.
> 
> i hope you'll enjoy this one and wish you all a great saturday!

The clock tick-tocking on the wall kept dragging Changbin’s attention back to itself, no matter how much he tried to pay attention to what the therapist said.

“Changbin, are you listening?”

He nodded quickly, only five minutes left.

With a sigh, his therapist took off the pair of wire frame glasses and placed them on the table, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Look, I know it’s difficult, but we’ve been over this so many times, Changbin… You will need to start somewhere. Make small changes. Like we talked about.”

Of course. Changbin understood the doctor’s frustration, he was frustrated with himself as well. Every week, for the past five months now, he would come here, they would talk for an hour and he would leave feeling the same as before. And every week he would try to change things and gave up right after.

Normally, his sessions would be on Thursdays but because Thursday was now a Bad Day ever since he had a mental breakdown again two weeks ago, they got scheduled for Friday instead, starting that day. And as much as Changbin knew that therapy was important, he could think of a million other things he would rather do on a Friday afternoon than sit here.

Changbin stepped out into the narrow hallway, bathed in the warm afternoon sunlight streaming in through big windows, the therapist’s words still ringing through his head. He nearly tripped over the outstretched legs of the guy slumped into the chair in the hallway, waiting for his appointment.

“My bad”, he sat up in his seat, pulling back his legs and offered a smile to Changbin, shamelessly looking him up and down, eyes lingering for a moment on the band aid on Changbin’s wrist. A wicked smile, a handsome face, shining eyes that had a mischievous glint to them. “What’s wrong with you?”

The question was not meant to offend, there was no judgement or anger behind his words, just curiosity. It took Changbin a moment to realize that he was still just standing in the hallway, not moving, not saying anything.

“My head’s all wrong.”

The guy let out a chuckle that echoed in the empty hallway. “That sucks. Want a chewing gum?”

“Minho, you can come in”, the therapist's voice sounded muffled through the door.

“Here you go.” The guy, Minho presumably, got up from the chair and tossed a pack of gum at Changbin who caught it at the last moment. Before he closed the door to the office behind him, he stuck his head out into the hallway once more, giving Changbin a wink. “Smile at me next time.”

When Changbin returned home, his parents tried asking about the appointment as usual and as always Changbin would say that it went fine and disappear into his room, not missing the worried glance his parents exchanged.

At least he was safe in his room. His photographs stuck to his walls, the shutters drawn, the soft, comforting feeling of his bed under his body. Sure, the silence could be deafening, but it couldn’t be any worse than the outside world, than people.

The wound on his wrist was almost fully healed, only a scar reminding him of the Dark Day and he scratched it absentmindedly as he checked his phone. Felix and Hyunjin had reached out to him, asking once again if he wanted to hang out and he let out a deep sigh, throwing his phone on the empty space next to him without replying to them. He felt guilty for ignoring them, but he just didn’t have the energy, felt too exhausted to have a conversation, even if it was just via text. Summer break had started last week and Changbin was looking forward to summer, the only thing he could really look forward to right now. A break from everything, weeks of nothingness ahead of him before he had to start his last school year in the fall.

He didn’t know how long he was lying on his bed, how much time he spent just staring at his ceiling, but he eventually got up and peeled off his clothes to take a shower. He had forgotten all about the boy from the waiting room until the pack of gum fell out of his pocket and he picked it up with furrowed brows.

Lemon flavored chewing gum, interesting choice.

Every day was like this - Changbin would get up late in the morning, have some coffee, then grabbed his camera and ventured out into the world to take pictures. He would get home in the evening, sit through a mostly silent dinner on his part, go to his room and hide away in the darkness until he eventually fell asleep. 

Simple. Endless. Numb. 

He didn’t remember the guy from the therapist office until he showed up there again the next Friday. He would have expected there not to be anyone, especially not that guy since his session was after Changbin’s, but he was already sprawled out in one of the chairs when he set foot on the carpeted floor of the hallway.

Changbin double checked his watch to make sure he wasn’t late and sat down on the chair across from the guy who pocketed his phone and blew a bubble with his gum before smiling at him.

“It’s you again.”

He really wasn’t in the mood for conversations. “Yes.”

The guy raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re not a very talkative guy, are you?”

Changbin didn’t answer, hoping it would be enough for the other to understand that he wasn’t in the mood to talk but if he understood, he completely ignored it.

“I’m Minho. Want a gum?”

He held out another pack of chewing gum towards Changbin who shook his head. “No, thank you.”

Minho shrugged and pocketed the gum again. “Suit yourself. What’s your name, pretty boy?”

The blatant flirting caught Changbin off guard and he glared at Minho. “Don’t call me that.”

“I’d be happy to call you by your name.”

The therapist’s voice coming through the door saved Changbin from having to answer, though unfortunately it also gave Minho exactly the information he wanted.

“Changbin, come in please.”

He got up to walk into the office, passing Minho who mouthed his name with a grin. What a weirdo.

It had started raining by the time Changbin’s session was over and he walked out into the hallway again. Minho was still there, now completely stretched out over two chairs and Changbin’s back hurt just from looking at him.

He couldn’t help but ask. “Why were you here so early if your session doesn’t start until mine ends?”

Minho sat up and blinked at him. “Wow, you can speak so many words at once?”

Changbin rolled his eyes at him and moved to leave but was stopped by Minho grabbing his arm.

“Hey, I was just joking. I didn’t have anything better to do today so I thought I’d stop by earlier to see you.”

“Why me?”

“Minho, come in please.”

Minho got up, releasing Changbin’s arm and offering him a wide smile again. “You intrigue me, pretty Changbin.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyoooooo~
> 
> this story is pretty close to my heart for a multitude of reasons so thank you for reading it dlkhglskd  
> the beginning is a bit slow so i'm sorry about that, i promise things will get better and worse and better again bit by bit :)
> 
> wishing everyone a lovely monday and stay safe! :D

When Changbin was in a slump, he had some issues with his memory. He would forget little things, like whether he had turned off the stove or closed the window, what he had read five minutes earlier or what someone had told him just a minute ago.

So the handsome crazy stranger from the therapist’s waiting room was soon gone from his memory as well, especially when he spent the weekend crying in his bed.

As he showed up for his session the next Friday though, Minho was once again waiting for him outside the office.

“Hey there”, he grinned and offered him a stick of gum. “Gum?”

“Will you show up here early every Friday?” Changbin couldn’t help the annoyance in his tone. It was tough enough getting through the day, even tougher having to sit through the session, he really didn’t need some nosy high school student annoying him.

Minho whistled for a moment. “I take it you’re not having a good day. I don’t have a session today, come with me after yours?”

Changbin wondered why this guy only had therapy sessions and wasn’t locked up in an institution with how insane he acted.

“Why would I go with a stranger who’s stalking me?”

For a second it seemed as though Minho was thinking it over and he nodded slowly. “Valid. My name is Lee Minho, I’m 18 and I live two blocks away. Come with me after your session? We’ll go for coffee or something.”

He popped a stick of gum into his mouth and waggled his eyebrows at Changbin in order to convince him to go along with his stupid plan.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not interested.”

Minho crossed his arms in front of his chest, taking Changbin’s rejection as a challenge. “What’s the harm in going for coffee with me?”

“You’re annoying.”

“Also valid. But consider this”, he held up a finger, blowing a bubble with his gum. “I’m a fun guy to hang around with and you look like you haven’t had a good laugh in an eternity and a half.”

The therapist called him in for his session and for the next sixty minutes, Changbin kept thinking about Minho and whether or not he was still sitting out in the waiting room.

“Are you listening, Changbin?”

“Huh?” Changbin blinked at the therapist. “Sorry, yes.”

“You seem distracted. Is there something on your mind?”

Once again, Changbin’s mouth was faster than his brain. “Yeah, the crazy guy outside.”

The therapist raised an eyebrow at him. “Who’s outside?”

“Lee Minho.”

He watched as the therapist let out a long sigh. “Try not to pay attention to him. You are here to get some help to feel better and make some positive changes in your life. So you should focus on yourself first and foremost.”

Positive changes. Always the same bullshit.

Minho had barely moved from his spot when Changbin left his session a little later, looking up from his phone with a smile.

“Oh good, you’re done. Boring session? Mine are always really boring. It’s always blah blah blah, get enough sleep, think happy thoughts.” He pocketed his phone and got up. “Coffee?”

Maybe it was the way Minho casually made conversation and jokes in a therapist’s waiting room or maybe it was the way the summer sun illuminated his facial features in the hallway, or maybe it was just the summer fever getting to Changbin - but coffee actually sounded pretty good.

Luckily the coffee shop Minho dragged him to was on a busy street and for the first time in ages, Changbin was actually glad to see people bustling around him even if it was just to give him a sense of security while he was spontaneously just following a crazy stranger.

If Minho noticed Changbin’s discomfort, he didn’t mention it. Instead he talked a mile a minute about everything under the sun and paid for Changbin’s coffee even though Changbin insisted on paying for it himself.

As they sat down, Minho took a sip of his own and searched Changbin’s face for something.

“Prozac or Zoloft?” He waited for a response but Changbin’s bewildered and creeped out expression was probably not what he was looking for. “Oh come on, don’t look like that. Just friendly chit chat.”

“Neither.” Divulging medical history didn’t seem like friendly chit chat to Changbin.

Minho shrugged at him. “Okay, I get it. You’re a reserved guy - I can work with that. What’s in the bag?”

Changbin instinctively pulled his messenger bag onto his lap. “Stuff.”

He earned a sigh from Minho. “Give me a chance, pretty Changbin. Are you keeping your mortal enemies’ heads in there? Or perhaps...naughty things?”

The mock shocked look on Minho’s face made Changbin break out into a smile against his best efforts and Minho leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin.

“There you go. That wasn’t so hard, was it? You should smile more, it looks pretty on you.”

They sat in silence for a while, Minho drumming his fingers on the tabletop in a disjointed rhythm and Changbin watching people walk past the outdoor seating area of the coffee shop until he gave in.

“It’s a camera.”

Minho turned to him with a quizzical look. “The pigeons? I always thought they might be spying on us for the government…”

“In the bag.”

“Oh so you’re a photographer! Or do you stalk people? Because if so that’s kinda weird man…”

Changbin could feel his face heating up. Minho seemed to turn virtually anything into a joke, he seemed lighthearted in a way that Changbin was envious of.

“No! No… I just take pictures of things like, the scenery. Flowers mostly.”

Minho let out an appreciative whistle and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and cupping his face in his hands as he looked at Changbin with a gaze that was too intense for the other to hold eye contact with him.

“You should show me some. If you want to, of course. My friend Seungmin, he’s big on flowers too. Plants in general, he has a ton of them at home. Gives them names and stuff. He’s a weird one.”

Changbin wondered how strange someone would have to be for someone like Minho to call them weird.

Friends. Right, Changbin had promised Felix and Hyunjin that he would actually meet up with them for once today. He checked his watch in a hurry to see that he might just make it in time to Felix’s house if he hurried.

“You got plans?”

He looked back up to find Minho watching him with a neutral expression. Minho seemed to have an expressive face so seeing a blank look on him felt bizarre to Changbin.

“I have to go… I’m meeting some friends.”

For a moment, Minho looked disappointed before he offered Changbin a bright smile.

“Well, I hope to see you again next week, Changbin.”

Changbin muttered a quick goodbye and rushed off to the subway, his thoughts racing through the strange encounter of this afternoon. He fished his earphones out of his pocket only to find another pack of gum in it as well. He didn’t know when Minho had put it there but somehow, it made him smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heya guys!!!
> 
> i'm excited for the kingdom performances later! :D  
> is anyone else watching?
> 
> hope all of you have a nice tuesday and i'm sending you all a bit of sunshine :)

The sun was still beating down when Changbin joined Felix and Hyunjin in Felix’s backyard, the two of them sprawled out in the giant hammock that Felix’s dad bought last summer, hidden away from the heat under the shade of a large tree. Changbin felt nostalgic every time they hung out in Felix’s backyard, the treehouse they had built together when they were younger still up in the tree though none of them had been up there in years, fearing that the wooden plans would give out under their weight.

“Look who graced us with their presence, Lix”, Hyunjin muttered, blinking one eye open when Changbin approached them. “Didn’t think you were going to come.”

“Hyunjin…” Felix nudged him lightly, a silent way of telling him to knock it off. “Nice to see you, Binnie.”

Changbin sank down in the soft grass next to the hammock. “Sorry, I was… something came up.”

Felix shuffled out of the hammock, almost flipping it over in the process and Hyunjin let out a squeal.

“My mom’s making lemonade right now - have you eaten or do you want anything?”

Changbin shook his head at Felix, playing with a few strands of grass. Felix hummed as he sat down beside him and eyed him for a moment. “What came up?”

For a moment Changbin was debating whether he should tell them about Minho or not. They had never had any secrets from each other, though he wasn’t sure how they would react to Changbin just running off with some random guy he met at therapy.

“There’s a guy…”

Hyunjin immediately sat up in the hammock, causing it to flip for real now and he let out a groan as he was unceremoniously dropped on the ground. 

A little chuckle escaped Changbin at the sight and he looked over to see Felix still staring at him with a worried look.

“Go on.”

“He goes to the same therapist. I’ve met him there a couple times and he wanted to get coffee.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Felix’s mom bringing out lemonade and setting it down on the table a few feet away from them.

“Why don’t you guys sit here instead of on the lawn? Oh, Changbin! It’s great to see you, how are you doing?”

They moved over to the table to sit down and thanked Felix’s mom for the lemonade before Felix gently urged her to leave them alone because they were talking about Important Business. His mother left with a smile on her lips and a muttered “These kids…”

“Tell us about this guy, Binnie. Is he a creep? He’s not super old, is he?”

Hyunjin interrupted Felix’s questioning. “Was it a date?”

“It wasn’t a date and he’s not a creep, I think. He’s our age and we just went for coffee.”

Felix let out a deep sigh and a silence settled between them. Changbin picked up one of the glasses and took a sip of the lemonade, sour and refreshing, the taste of summer and he felt himself relax for what felt like the first time in ages. The fresh summer breeze cooling them down from the summer heat and his friends’ voices made him realize how lonely he had felt lately. He was ripped from his thoughts by Hyunjin’s voice.

“Will you see him again?”

Changbin shrugged in response, the taste of lemonade on his tongue reminding him of Minho’s chewing gum. “I don’t know… he’s a bit weird.”

“I mean, you’re weird too-”

Felix seemed to have kicked Hyunjin’s shin under the table because he stopped talking and pulled a pained face.

“I think it’s good that you’re making new friends again, Binnie. Just make sure that, you know, his issues aren’t making yours worse…”

Hyunjin’s voice was softer now. “We don’t want you to get hurt again like… you know.”

Changbin knew. He knew all too well.

Last year, Changbin had found out he was into guys. It surprised him in the way that you found out you had a mole on your back since birth but you didn’t know because you never saw it yourself.

Unfortunately for him, he found out because he grew to have feelings for the pretty guy from the class above theirs. And even worse, everyone found out. The worst part of all was that no matter how accepting his friends were, most people in his school surely weren’t and after many unfortunate incidents, Changbin tried to kill himself, was hospitalized, his worst bullies were expelled and now he was seeing his therapist on a weekly basis.

Depression, they said. The first therapist Changbin had right after he left the hospital basically just told him to go outside more and think happy thoughts and put him on a medication that made him unable to do absolutely anything. The second therapist Changbin met told him that medication was unnecessary and talked to him about essential oils for two weeks before Changbin finally landed a therapist that seemed to genuinely care. He was prescribed new medication that seemed to actually kind of work and had weekly sessions with him, though lately his therapist was beginning to become frustrated with him.

Changbin couldn’t blame him. He would love to stop feeling empty and numb and having no energy but it was hard. Some days, he would just lie in bed all day and some days he would actually be able to go outside and have a conversation with someone. Most days, he kind of just felt like a ghost drifting through his life, a life on autopilot.

As the sun was setting and Hyunjin complained about having to start his summer job on Monday, Felix placed the little flower crown he had been fidgeting all afternoon with on Changbin’s head and offered him a bright smile.

“You know, I’m really happy you stopped by today. Do you wanna do anything over the weekend?”

As unexpected as this day had been for Changbin, he felt genuinely relaxed and good about spending some time with someone other than himself and he returned Felix’s smile.

“Sure. What do you have in mind?”

Hyunjin stretched himself lazily. “Can you guys come with me to the vet tomorrow? Kkami needs to get a shot. We can get ice cream after or go to the pool?”

And that’s how their plan was made. Changbin left Felix’s house with the flower crown forgotten and still on his head and watched his parents look at him with surprised faces when he greeted them with a smile.

The waiting room at the vet was empty save for a young girl with an injured cat and an elderly man with a sleepy looking dog.

“Hwang Hyunjin and Kkami?”

The voice made Changbin’s head whip around just to find Minho staring back at him with an expression on his face that probably matched the surprised one on his own. It was strange seeing Minho in grey scrubs instead of his usual t-shirt and ripped jeans and Minho raised an eyebrow at him.

“That’s us!” Hyunjin jumped up, jostling Kkami in his arms a little and Minho guided them to the doctor that was going to administer the shot to Kkami.

Changbin and Minho stayed near the door while Minho sidled up to them.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“I didn’t know you work here…”

Minho chuckled. “Just a summer job, I’m just calling names and petting animals. It’s great.”

Felix watched them both with a curious look. “Sorry, how do you two know each other?”

“Oh, I’m Minho. I met Changbin at”, he glanced at Changbin trying to decipher whether he should tell this stranger the truth. Changbin appreciated that he had the decency to not mention him going to therapy to just anyone, even though Felix knew. “We met recently.”

Changbin leaned closer to Felix to whisper to him that this was the exact guy he had mentioned the day before and Felix’s eyes widened as he looked back at Minho.

“Oh, I see. Nice to meet you, I’m Felix.”

Kkami let out a few barks and Hyunjin, being the dramatic person he was, shied away from the table with a whine. “Why do you have to be like this now?”

Minho excused himself to join the vet and cooed at Kkami for a little bit before the little dog calmed down.

When Changbin had met Minho before, he had seemed energetic, kind of insane, talkative and like he was carrying himself with a light air of chaos wherever he went. Now, Minho seemed gentle, kind and incredibly patient and Changbin wondered if it was the power of animals that could make a person act so dramatically different.

Before they left the vet’s office, Minho pulled Changbin aside with a smile.

“Do you want to go for coffee again?”

“Do you only consume coffee?”

Minho seemed thoughtful. “We can do something else.”

For a second Changbin wondered if Minho didn’t have any friends to be so attached to someone he’s only met in a waiting room a handful of times but then he remembered that he had mentioned a friend called Seungmin the day before.

Minho smiled and fished a crumpled receipt out of his pocket, grabbed a pen from the reception desk and scribbled on the back of the receipt. “Here. Just text me sometime when you’re free.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyooo!
> 
> sorry for the late update, i've been super lazy this week :(  
> i promise i'll pick up my slack over the weekend tho!
> 
> wishing everyone a happy friday :D

Pretty much immediately, Changbin regretted telling his friends about Minho. Felix encouraged him to meet up with him again as he had seemed nice and Hyunjin just whined about himself not being able to meet anyone cute and Changbin was struggling.

On Sunday, he spent half the day just lying in bed, listening to the birds chirp outside, the tree branches outside his window swaying in the summer breeze. His body felt heavy today, he was too exhausted to move a muscle and so he just lay there for hours letting his thoughts drift.

At one point, he managed to drag himself out of bed because his mother kept telling him to go out into the sun and get some vitamin D so he relocated to lie on one of the sunbeds in their backyard, though it didn’t help his mood.

His phone vibrated and Changbin saw that it was Felix asking him if he had texted Minho yet, so he turned it off and closed his eyes. The wind felt good on his skin, warm from the sun, and from one of the neighbors’ gardens he heard kids laugh as they jumped into a pool. He wondered when the last time was that he had laughed, really laughed because he was happy and not just because he was expected to laugh at something.

Getting lost in his thoughts, he dozed off for a while until his mother came to wake him up for dinner.

That night, he lied awake for a long time, hoping that he could one day be cheerful like the neighborhood kids again.

Changbin woke up the next morning feeling determined. Determined to get back into life, to spend his summer happily. Step one would be cleaning his room.

It was another sunny, hot day and he opened the window to let the smell of freshly cut grass in and caught himself humming a song under his breath as he put dirty laundry aside and abandoned books back on the shelf. When he cleaned up his desk, he found the lemon gum Minho had snuck into his pocket and he hesitated for a moment before popping one into his mouth and feeling a smile spread across his face.

Once his room had been cleaned, he turned his phone back on and responded to his friends, stopping for a moment before he typed Minho’s number into his phone.

_ Hi this is Changbin _

As soon as he hit send, he threw his phone onto his bed and let out a sigh, a new spring in his step when he bounced down the stairs to get a glass of water.

For the rest of the day, Changbin heard from both Felix and Hyunjin though there was no indication that Minho had ever read his message. He couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Had he misread Minho’s attempt at making friends? Did he only give Changbin his number because he pitied him? He shoved the thought to the back of his head, though he couldn’t help but overthink it for far too long.

He didn’t hear back from Minho for the entire week, only bumping into him again when he left the therapist’s office after his session. His therapist was pleasantly surprised by Changbin’s mood getting better and him making some “positive changes” and the whole session left Changbin with a better feeling than the previous ones had. When he stepped out into the waiting room, he saw Minho slumped down on the chair, staring up at him with tired eyes.

“Hi”, Changbin squeaked out, clearing his voice before continuing. “I don’t know if you saw my message-”

“I did.”

Minho’s voice seemed cold, distant and he seemed so different from when Changbin had last seen him. He didn’t say anything further and Changbin was left standing there in an awkward silence for a moment. The therapist called Minho in just as Changbin was about to ask Minho why he didn’t respond and Minho walked right past him without looking at him, without saying another word.

Minho’s blank expression didn’t leave Changbin’s mind, leading him to eventually send him another text message while he was on his way to Hyunjin’s.

_ Sorry if I annoyed you. Hope you’re okay. _

He had just gotten off the subway when he received a response.

_ Not your fault. Don’t text me again. _

“That’s super weird man…” Hyunjin just barely prevented his ice cream from ending up on the ground while they were sitting outside his house. “Why would he give you his number and then tell you not to text?”

Felix hummed thoughtfully. “Do you know what he has? Like is that connected to… you know?”

Despite Minho talking a lot and not seeming to have any issues talking about mental health, he had never actually mentioned what the reason for his trips to the therapist was. Of course, he could just be wanting to talk with someone but Changbin had a feeling that there was something else.

“No clue… but nothing won, nothing lost, I guess.”

Hyunjin sighed. “Okay, can one of us please make some new friends so I don’t stay single forever?”

“We still have six weeks left, don’t you talk to anyone at your job?”, Felix asked as he finished his ice cream cone.

“Please. I work in a diner, everyone is like a hundred years old.”

Changbin snorted. “And I thought you were looking for a sugar daddy…”

His friends looked at him with surprised faces for a moment, not used to Changbin being back to making jokes before Felix let out a laugh and Hyunjin started to protest loudly.

“That reminds me…”, Hyunjin grumbled once Felix’s laughter had died down, “the only other part timer my age is throwing a party tomorrow at her house, should we go?”

Felix glanced over to gauge Changbin’s reaction to the proposal. “It might be fun… what do you think, Binnie?”

On one hand, Changbin didn’t really want to go somewhere where he didn’t know anyone but on the other, he was feeling brave these days and maybe this was just the kind of push he needed to get out of his comfort zone. Besides, his friends would be there.

“I’m in.”

There were a lot of high school and college kids at Hyunjin’s coworker’s huge house the next day, though lucky for Changbin there were less than he had anticipated. Quite a few of them were already drunk even though it was barely past nine and the music was blasting so loudly you could hear it in every room.

Hyunjin, Felix and Changbin chatted with Hyunjin’s coworker for a little bit before Changbin felt someone behind him tap his shoulder.

“I knew it was you!” Minho grinned at him and pulled a guy that was standing next to him closer. His sudden friendly greeting was such a stark contrast to the way he acted the day before that Changbin was taken aback for a moment. Minho looked good, still kind of tired but he definitely dressed up for the party. “Oh, this is my friend Seungmin. That’s Changbin and his friends… Felix and Hyunjin.”

The guy next to him greeted them with a smile though he seemed in a much less hyper mood than Minho was.

“I- uh, hi. How are you?” Changbin didn’t really know what to say. He wanted to ask Minho about his text message but didn’t really want to make a scene with everyone around, so he chose to just keep it to small talk.

“I’m great! Funny to see you guys here. We should hang out sometime!”

Someone called out to Minho and he whipped his head around to gesture towards someone before turning back to them. “Sorry, gotta go. See you around!”

Minho was gone as quickly as he had appeared.

While Felix and Changbin wandered off to find a drink that didn’t contain alcohol, Hyunjin sat on one of the couches in the living room scrolling through his phone until Seungmin sat down next to him.

“Hi again. Hyunjin, right?”

Hyunjin locked his phone and turned to the other. It didn’t seem like Seungmin was drunk which made him one of the very small percentage of people at the party that were still able to hold a normal conversation.

“Yep. Are you close friends with Minho?”

Seungmin seemed a bit disappointed for a moment before putting on a neutral expression. “I am. Are you interested in him?”

“God no!” Maybe that was a little too harsh. “I mean, no. He’s not my type. But uh,.. Can I ask you something?”

Though Seungmin seemed hesitant, he nodded in response.

“He gave Changbin his number the other day but then told him not to text him… what’s up with that?”

Seungmin let out a deep sigh. “He’s been having a bit of a tough week. I think he’s feeling a little better now but yeah. Please tell Changbin sorry on his behalf. He’s a good guy, he just… struggles sometimes.”

That was a pretty vague answer though better than nothing, Hyunjin guessed. He wondered why Felix and Changbin still hadn’t returned but was promptly ripped from his thoughts by Seungmin again.

“Okay anyway… what’s up with you? Are you in high school or college?”

It took Changbin and Felix almost half an hour to locate some soft drinks and when they returned to Hyunjin, they kind of felt like they were intruding on his and Seungmin’s little get to know talk, spending the entirety of it just watching them as if they were a tv show. Not that Seungmin and Hyunjin minded, since they didn’t react to them returning at all.

Out of the corner of his eye, Changbin spotted Minho laughing with some guy at the dining table and though he was still confused about Minho’s sudden mood change, he felt a little relieved that he seemed to be feeling better than the day before. His eyes were still fixed on Minho when he pulled the other guy close and put his arms around his neck, dragging him in for a kiss. 

“Do you want some more coke?” Felix leaned closer to Changbin and demonstrated how empty his cup was by tipping it over.

“I’ll go.” Changbin was grateful for a little distraction, if he was being honest. He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable at the party, the loud music and crowds of people getting to him. Hopefully his friends would want to leave soon.

As Changbin made his way through the house, he passed a group of guys trying to roll a joint in the hallway and stopped in his tracks when he saw Minho pressed up against a wall, once again kissing someone, though this time it was a girl. Changbin raised his eyebrows at the scene in front of him - Minho had game, apparently.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo!
> 
> god i'm so sorry for neglecting this story so much i was super stuck on this chapter but i think i finally overcame my writers block sdlgkhslkdg  
> hope everyone is doing well these days!
> 
> wishing everyone a super fresh day/night and stay safe :)

It hadn’t been anything but sunny and summery for days and Changbin set out to take some photos as soon as he woke up around nine the next morning. After making himself a sandwich, he grabbed his camera and stepped out into the street outside his house, bathed in the warm glow of a late July morning. There was a hill amidst some empty fields not too far away from his house which he had made his target area today since he knew no one was really mowing there and he expected a lot of flowers to have sprung up there by now.

Halfway down his street, he stopped to tie the shoelace that had come undone when he heard a voice calling out to him.

“Changbin!”

He got up from his kneeling position and turned around to find Minho rushing towards him with a grin. He was still wearing the same clothes he had worn the night before and Changbin wondered if he had ever gone home or gotten any sleep when Minho got closer to him and he could see his tired expression.

“What a coincidence! Are you out to go take some pictures?” He gestured at Changbin’s bag.

Changbin nodded after hesitating for a moment.

“Great! I’ll come with.” Minho hooked an arm around one of Changbin’s and dragged him into motion, Changbin setting course for the hill again. He couldn’t help but still feel confused about Minho’s sudden change from not wanting to talk to him to just casually inviting himself along to his photo session but he didn’t really know what to say and so he just let his feet take them on their way.

After Changbin took some pictures, both him and Minho sat down on the top of the hill, Changbin cross legged and Minho lying down to rest his head on one of Changbin’s thighs.

“Did you go home after the party last night?”

Minho shook his head and closed his eyes against the sun that stood high on the clear blue sky above them.

“Did you even sleep?”

Changbin earned a sigh from him and Minho scrunched his nose up for a moment before he smiled, eyes still closed. “I’ll take a little nap now.”

For a little while, Changbin looked through the pictures he took and just sat there listening to the sounds around him, soaking in the sun. Every now and then, Minho let out a soft noise in his sleep and Changbin turned to him, couldn’t believe that the softly slumbering boy next to him, looking so peaceful and quiet was the same guy that made out with strangers at parties and stayed out all night doing god knows what.

He looked beautiful like this, a little sunkissed, hair messed up from rolling his head around in Changbin’s lap, lips slightly parted, eyelashes fluttering from time to time. Changbin hesitated only for a short while before he picked up the camera and leaned forward a little to get a better angle on Minho’s face.

With the sound of the shutter, Minho’s eyes blinked open sleepily, staring up at Changbin who was twisted forward and to the side, looking down at him. Changbin lowered the camera slowly and cleared his throat.

“Sorry, I just-”

The corners of Minho’s mouth quirked up into a smile, softer than he had seen it on his face before, and somehow Minho seemed clear, unfiltered, himself.

Changbin was about to make more excuses for secretly taking Minho’s picture but Minho just reached up to snake a hand around Changbin’s neck, tangling the fingers in the hair on the back of his head and tugging him down to Minho slowly.

He watched as Minho’s eyelids fluttered close again and all of a sudden, Changbin felt his heart speed up and he found it hard to breathe. With more force than was probably necessary, Changbin pushed himself away from Minho and scooted back to have a foot of space between them. He heaved in a few shallow breaths and Minho sat up with an expression he couldn’t quite read in his panic.

“I’m sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Minho held up his hands in front of his chest. “Are you okay? Hey, breathe. Just breathe.”

Minho kept his distance until Changbin had calmed down enough to speak properly again, a deep flush on his cheeks now, embarrassed about reacting so strongly to Minho’s actions.

“Do you feel better?” Minho sounded genuinely concerned. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s… it’s okay. Sorry for freaking out.”

“No need to be sorry.”

When Changbin finally looked back at Minho, the other was looking at him with a soft smile and so they just sat in silence for a little bit.

After a while, Minho spoke again, quietly, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. “Can I ask why you got freaked out? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, of course.”

Should he tell him? Minho didn’t seem like the kind of person who would make fun of him or not take him seriously and really, he seemed to have his own issues and that gave Changbin a little more courage to open up - from one headcase to another.

“I tried to kiss… my crush. Last year. He told his friends and they…”

He trailed off and fixed his gaze at the grass below him, pulling on a few strands. Minho stayed quiet, giving him enough time to talk more when he felt ready to do so.

“They tied me to the goalpost in my underwear. Overnight.” He felt panic rise in himself again but tried to focus on his breathing to stay calm. “They all saw.”

“What a bunch of fuckers.”

Changbin had expected pity, maybe some disbelief or worst case, laughter but he didn’t expect to see Minho clenching his fists and letting out a long, annoyed groan.

“I hope they got expelled, assholes.”

“They did.”

“Good.”

Their words drifted away with the warm summer wind and a bird sang somewhere, filling the silence.

“Do I get a question too?”

Minho raised an eyebrow at him. “Shoot.”

“Why do you go to therapy?”

Changbin watched Minho let out a sarcastic chuckle. “And here I thought you’d ask me about my secret beauty tips to looking extra handsome.”

He stretched out his legs and leaned down on his palms, letting his head roll back, facing the blue sky above them.

“Bipolar. Sometimes you feel okay and sometimes you feel like you want to die and sometimes you lose reality and wear yourself out.”

That explained a lot, Changbin thought. The friendly Minho, the exhausted Minho, the hyper Minho - so many extremes inside one person.

“I guess we’re both fucked up, huh?”

Minho laughed softly and closed his eyes, the wind playing with his tousled hair, and Changbin thought he looked like summer.

“By the way, Seungmin won’t shut up about Hyunjin. He talked about him all night last night up until I left today. We should all hang out again sometime.”

Everyone always told Changbin that his condition was serious, that what happened to him was serious, that everything was serious and difficult and hard. And here was Minho, who struggled and embraced it, who talked about it all as if he was discussing the latest movie he had seen. And for the first time in a while, Changbin thought that maybe he would be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyoooo~
> 
> hope everyone's doing well!  
> i'm super unmotivated for work today :(
> 
> wishing yall a super fresh tuesday!

After their talk, Changbin and Minho kept texting back and forth from time to time - Changbin throughout the day and Minho all throughout the night as well. The closer they got, the more Changbin got worried about Minho’s sleeping pattern but he didn’t feel like it was his place to judge that, considering the tiny baby steps he was making for himself.

The week went by in a blur and Changbin was almost disappointed to not find Minho in the therapist office’s waiting room after his session, though he would see him a little later at Felix’s anyway as they had all agreed to hang out together there that Friday evening. So once he had taken a shower and gotten ready, he was on his way to Felix’s house, running into Hyunjin on the way.

Felix welcomed them with a happy smile and way too many bottles of coke and enough chips to feed an army. They all settled down in the backyard and chatted about the day’s events, hearing all about Hyunjin’s diner gossip just as Seungmin showed up.

“Where’s Minho?”, Felix asked as he handed Seungmin a plastic cup. “I thought you two would come together.”

“He said he’s running a bit late and I didn’t want to wait.”

Changbin witnessed the glance he stole at Hyunjin that no one else seemed to notice. Seungmin quickly joined in on their discussion and about half an hour later, Minho stumbled around the corner of Felix’s house into their field of vision.

“Hey my friends!”

With just one look, everyone could tell that Minho was absolutely wasted - slurring his words, uneven steps, wild eyes unfocused.

“Minho”, Seungmin sighed as he got up to stand in front of him. “Are you drunk?”

“Pshhh.” Minho rolled his eyes at him. “So what if I am? It’s a party right?!”

He said it with enthusiasm though no one joined in.

“Get a grip, Minho…”

Minho turned his attention back to Seungmin and glared at him. “Get a grip?! Get a fucking grip?!”

He gave Seungmin a shove but lost his footing himself and stumbled backwards a little before standing upright again. Hyunjin and Changbin immediately got up to get between the two of them, Hyunjin pulling Seungmin back to the table while Changbin guided Minho a little away from them.

“Did you even fucking want me to come?”

Minho was angry but his words were dripping with hurt. He stared at them for a moment before turning on his heel and storming off again.

“I should go after him”, Seungmin sighed but Changbin shook his head at him.

“It’s fine, I’ll go.”

Changbin found Minho only five minutes away from Felix’s house, sitting at the foot of a little hill, curled up, knees against his chest. He sat down next to him and for a moment wondered if Minho would beat him up but Minho didn’t react at all, just sat there staring into nothing.

“What’s going on?”

He didn’t really expect Minho to answer, but he had never seen him angry and so he had to ask.

“It fucking sucks.”

Minho let out a shaky breath and from his tear stricken voice, Changbin could tell he had been crying.

“What sucks?”

“They fucking left me here. They left me here alone and now Seungmin doesn’t even want me-”

“Hey, hey.”

Minho was working himself up, broken sobs escaping him as he talked and Changbin leaned a bit closer to him, slinging an arm around Minho’s shoulders.

“Who left you?”

The response Changbin received was a pained low sound followed by another sob and finally, Minho moved and inched closer to Changbin, pulling him into a tight hug and crying into his shoulder.

“M-mom… dad…”

Changbin lightly stroked a hand over Minho’s back in an effort to calm him down and after a while, his breathing became slower, more normal and the frantic crying turned into small sniffs here and there.

“They died two years ago, mom and dad. Drunk driver hit us and I was the only one who made it.”

Minho’s words were just barely above a whisper, quiet and hurt and Changbin swallowed hard, not even able to imagine what it must feel like to lose your parents, to lose them and be the only survivor.

He didn’t know what to say and so he didn’t say anything, just held Minho until Minho took a deep breath and pulled away from him a little bit. Their faces were so close that nothing more than a sheet of paper would fit between their noses and Changbin could smell the alcohol on Minho’s breath.

Minho moved forward just very slightly and Changbin recoiled immediately, leaning back and away so Minho lost his balance and they both tumbled to the ground, Minho’s head bumping against Changbin’s chest.

“S-sorry…”, Minho whispered. He sat up and looked ashamed as he moved away from Changbin. “Sorry, god, why do I keep-”

Within a second, his facial expression changed and his eyes widened and quick as lightning, he crawled away from Changbin to throw up a few feet away from him.

After a few minutes, Minho got up and walked over to Changbin with shaky legs, extending a hand to him to help him up.

“Sorry about that too.”

Changbin offered him a small smile. “It’s okay. Do you feel better?”

Minho nodded but held a hand in front of his mouth. “Ugh, my breath must smell like shit though.”

His gaze dropped from Changbin’s face down to the lemon flavored gum he had pulled out of his pocket and was holding out to him.

“Want a gum?”

Minho blinked a few times before accepting a stick of gum and popping it in his mouth. “Lemon, huh?”

Changbin chuckled as they made their way up the hill and back to Felix’s. 

“I guess I kind of like the flavor now.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my friends!!
> 
> can someone pls clean my apartment for me im not in the mood :(  
> i hope everyone's doing well! :D
> 
> wishing you all an extra fresh wednesday!

Minho had sobered up a little bit by the time they reached Felix’s backyard again and Seungmin had seemingly filled the others in on Minho struggling a bit at the moment, leaving out the personal parts.

Dusk had turned into night and they quickly decided to move their party inside and watch a movie instead of getting bitten by mosquitoes, carrying bowls and cups inside, Minho quiet and seemingly embarrassed the entire time, though Hyunjin, Seungmin and Felix tried their best to lighten the mood and pretend that nothing had happened.

Everyone kind of decided to just have a sleepover at Felix’s and after contacting their parents, settled down in the living room, Hyunjin and Seungmin kind of awkwardly sitting beside each other on the couch, not sure if they should keep a distance between them or just be comfortable. Felix was lying down on the huge fluffy carpet and Changbin had taken over the corner spot of the couch - only Minho was kind of just standing in the room, unsure of where to sit down. He made up his mind eventually, sinking down on the couch next to Changbin and throughout the first thirty minutes of the movie, Hyunjin and Seungmin apparently decided that keeping distance was for losers and ended up completely entangled in an effort to be comfortable while Changbin could hear Felix snore every now and then before he would wake up again.

As the movie went on, Changbin himself found it hard to keep his eyes open, especially with the way Minho had curled up next to him, his head resting against Changbin’s arm and chest, his body warming Changbin’s where they were pressed together, and once he heard a sleepy mumble from Hyunjin, he gave in and just closed his eyes, just for a second, just to rest them, and he was gone.

He woke up a little later with a stiff neck from sleeping in a weird position and the room around them lighter than it had been before. The Netflix catalogue screen was up on the tv and a quick look around told Changbin that the others were still asleep, save for Minho who had mysteriously disappeared.

For a moment he thought about just going back to sleep but now that he was already awake, he gave up and slowly tiptoed out of the living room to use the bathroom.

When he returned, his eyes fell on the porch outside, Minho sitting there, his silhouette illuminated by the day’s first sun rays peeking over the mountains, skyline and trees. Changbin poked his head back into the living room, though no one else had woken up yet and made his way outside to join Minho.

“You’re up early.”

Changbin’s voice was still rough with sleep when he answered. “You’re one to talk.”

Minho smiled at him for a moment before looking back at the sunrise. “I don’t sleep well.”

Like this, Minho looked calm. He seemed grounded, tired but focused, as if someone had peeled away the sparkly wrapping paper, wiped away the happy face painted on him.

“I like the sunrise”, he said quietly. “I like watching it while the city is still asleep.”

“I never said thank you.”

“For what?”

Changbin thought about the best words to describe what he meant. “For shouldering your way into my life.”

Minho chuckled at the sentence and turned his head to look at him. “That doesn’t sound like you’re grateful.”

“You shouldered me out of my comfort zone, I guess.”

“Better.”

They sat like this for a while, watching the rising sun tint the sky purple and pink and blue, small clouds drawing golden lines.

“You need to calm down, Minho. Find some kind of balance in your life. You’re going to ruin yourself if you keep going like this.”

Minho hung his head and let out a sigh. “I know. Easier said than done.”

It could have been the morning light or the birds singing in the distance, the sound of cars driving on the street on the other side of the house, but in this moment, Changbin felt a surge of confidence he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Let me help you.”

He received a doubtful look from Minho. “I’m not going to make my problems yours, Changbin.”

“And I’m not saying that I will take on your problems. Just take a few days off and I will follow you around and help you break some habits.”

“Doesn’t it take like 20 days to break a habit or something?”

“Well, we can start with a week.”

And with that, they made a deal and something changed in Changbin, made him appreciate the sunrise just a little bit more.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooooo~
> 
> i'm sorry for the late update :(((
> 
> hope everyone's having a great weekend! :D

When Changbin offered to spend time with Minho to help him balance his life a little bit, he truly did not expect random phone calls at all times of the day and night. Just barely one day after their pact had been made, Changbin grumbled as he blinked his eyes open and picked up his ringing phone.

“Minho, it’s three in the morning-”

“Sorry to bother you! I just thought about what we could do tomorrow and I was thinking…”

Changbin let out a deep sigh as Minho rambled on and on and threw his arm over his eyes. He really wondered if and when Minho slept, seeing as he would get messages from him all day or just receive a call here and there.

“Bin? Are you still there?”

“Yeah.” A yawn escaped Changbin. “Look, it’s the middle of the night, can we talk about this tomorrow? You really need to get some sleep.”

“But…” Minho trailed off and Changbin bit back another yawn.

“But what?”

Minho’s voice sounded small when he replied. “I can’t sleep.”

Changbin sighed and turned on his side. “Okay. How about you just lie down and try to relax. I’ll stay on the line but no talking, okay? Actually try to sleep.”

“Okay”, Minho whispered and there was some rustling on the other end of the line when he turned around in his bed. Changbin pictured Minho all curled up in his sheets for a moment, tired but wired and felt a pang of guilt. He could sleep for ages, had never actually struggled with insomnia and he thought that it would probably feel like hell.

“Hey, Changbin?”

Changbin hummed into his phone, feeling himself drift off to sleep again.

“Good night. Okay, I’m shutting up now.”

“Good night, Minho.”

The next day, Changbin eyed Minho across the table. He had forced Minho to get a decaf coffee and Minho was not happy about it in the slightest, pulling a face whenever he took a sip.

“Do I really have to drink this?”

“I told you, no caffeine for you for the foreseeable future.”

Minho rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“So what’s the plan for the week?”

Changbin earned a confused look from Minho.

“What do you mean by plan for the week?”

“Like, what are you doing this week?”

As Minho shrugged his shoulders, Changbin realized that the week would be much more chaotic than he had first anticipated.

“I don’t know, I just do what I’m in the mood for.”

“First of all, you’re going to have to make at least a vague plan for stuff. You need some… like, structure. Are there any appointments you have this week, or anything you want to do?”

Minho thought about it for a moment, stole a piece of the half eaten croissant on Changbin’s plate with a grin and popped it in his mouth before responding.

“There are a couple of really cool parties going on this week and also I kind of feel like changing my hair and I was thinking that maybe I should get a tattoo?”

“No.”

Minho pouted at him, taking another piece of the croissant. “Why no?”

“If you’re going to parties, no drinking. And don’t make any rash decisions like messing up your hair or getting a damn tattoo, these things need to be planned in advance.”

Changbin earned an eye roll from Minho but pushed the plate with the remaining piece of croissant over to him.

“So you will go to the parties with me?”

Parties didn’t particularly sound like a good idea to Changbin. The last one he had been to and seen Minho at left kind of a bad taste in his mouth and he just couldn’t put his finger on why exactly that was and overall, he was mostly afraid of running into people from his school, specifically the assholes that had made his life hell.

“You’re scared.”

Changbin looked up to find Minho staring at him, chin resting in his hands, brows furrowed.

“I’m not scared…”

“You are.” Minho finished his cup of coffee with a grimace. “Look, if you come with me to the parties, I promise I will not drink and if you get too uncomfortable we can leave anytime.”

“I don’t think-”

“Changbin.” The serious tone in Minho’s voice was a stark contrast to the happy smile he wore on his face as he finished the last bite of the croissant. “Live a little. You owe it to yourself.”

The party Minho dragged him to that evening was already filled with people when they arrived. Changbin felt a little underdressed considering the rows of girls in low cut shirts and short shorts and the countless guys in sleeveless shirts or just no shirt at all.

One of said sleeveless shirt guys, his shirt aptly read “Sun’s out, gun’s out!”, was trying to do a keg stand in the backyard and Minho let out a sigh at the sight of him.

“You should wear a shirt like that sometimes.” He turned to face Changbin and squeezed his arm. “Got a nice arms on you.”

Changbin really hoped that his face wasn’t as red as it felt to him and he watched as Minho took a sip of his cup filled with coke. Neither him nor Minho knew a single person at the party, which he found kind of strange. Normally, people would just naturally crowd around Minho but they just stood alone near the porch leading out to the backyard.

“Are we crashing this party?”

Minho grinned at him. “Maybe?”

The disapproving look Changbin threw him made Minho laugh.

“Okay, sorry. I was just in the mood to go to a party.”

Two girls walked over to them before Changbin could argue with Minho. They looked very intoxicated, giggling as they introduced themselves to Changbin and Minho.

“Do you guys go to college here as well?”

Minho raised his eyebrows. “Yessss…. How did you know?”

The blonde girl giggled. “You just look like a college student. What do you study?”

Changbin elbowed Minho in the side and whispered, “Why are you lying to them?”

“Just go with it”, Minho responded before turning his attention back to the girls. “I’m studying uh, aerospace… biological… engineering arts.”

The brown haired girl raised an eyebrow at him and for a second Changbin thought that she would call Minho’s incredibly bad bluff but then she took a sip of her drink and dropped her voice to a purr.

“So you’re a smart cookie… what about you?”

Her question was directed at Changbin and he felt himself tense up when both the girls fixed him with a stare.

“Uh…”

“Oh, he’s not going to college here. He’s my uhm… boyfriend from County State.”

Minho slung an arm around Changbin’s shoulders and leaned his head against Changbin’s.

The girls exchanged a surprised expression before ducking their heads.

“Oh, uh, okay. Actually, it was nice to meet you. We, uhm, we gotta say hi to our friends!”

They disappeared as quickly as they had arrived and Minho waved after them with a friendly smile.

“What the hell was that?” Changbin shook off Minho’s arm and glared at him.

All he got in response was a shrug. “Since we’re crashing the party and no one knows us, we can just make up a persona.”

“You stress me out.”

“Come on, it’s fun.” Minho led Changbin over to a table with soda bottles, pouring them both another drink. “We can just be someone else for tonight.”

Realizing that there was no point in saying no to Minho, Changbin let out a sigh and felt himself relax a little bit. “Fine. Your lies suck though. Aerospace Biological Engineering Arts?”

Minho laughed out loud at Changbin’s annoyed face. “Alright, I’ll let you pick our major next. Let’s see how long we can pull this shit before someone realizes we weren’t actually invited to the party.”

Throughout the week, they went to four parties. After the first one, Changbin was somehow roped into being a rich billionaire’s illegitimate son trying to stay undercover as a high school student, internet celebrity Minho’s bodyguard and an underground rapper on his honeymoon with his teenage wedding’s husband Minho and despite all his protests, he actually had a great time at every single one of the parties they went to. Not that he would ever admit that out loud to Minho.

He noticed that somehow, Minho had also finally gotten a somewhat healthy sleeping pattern and had discovered that Minho was a great dancer, even being able to relax Changbin into being able to dance anywhere that wasn’t his shower. At one of the parties, Minho had pulled him close to dance to some noisy EDM song, putting his hands on Changbin’s waist to guide him and Changbin felt his hands itch, wanting to touch Minho, get closer to him, before he realized that he was being ridiculous and Minho was just trying to be nice and help him to enjoy himself. The embarrassment of the situation was something he would definitely not ever admit to Minho.

As they walked home from a late night taco meetup on Saturday, Minho hooked his arm around Changbin’s and let out a content sigh.

“I had a great week, thank you.”

The warm summer air was filled with neon lights on main street and turned into fireflies once they took the shortcut through a field to Changbin’s house.

“So about that tattoo…”

Changbin’s steps faltered a little when Minho slid the arm that was around his own down to link their hands. He watched as Minho looked around in awe, staring at the fireflies, seemingly unaware of what his gesture was doing to Changbin. He could feel his heart speed up but willed himself to ignore it.

“No tattoo.”

They stopped in front of Changbin’s house and Minho removed his hand from Changbin’s, turning to face him with a soft smile, dimly illuminated by the porch light.

“If I’m still sure about it by the end of the summer?”

He leaned closer to Changbin, staring at him with big, pleading eyes and for a moment Changbin could swear he saw them drift down to look at Changbin’s lips before making eye contact again.

He swallowed hard and rolled his eyes at Minho, making his way over to the door.

“Maybe.”

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think! :)
> 
> i'm always happy about messages on insta (@childish.changbino) or tumblr (changbin-enthusiast) as well! :D


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